86 / 822
Eternal India
encyclopedia
PEOPLE
marriage. The Bhils of Gujarat organise a folk dance during the
Holi
festival with the young men and women dancing in two rings round
a tree or pole to the top of which a coconut and some
gur
is tied. The
trial of strength begins when a young man from the outer ring tries
to break through the inner ring of women to climb the tree and eat
the
gur
and break open the coconut. The women try to prevent him
by striking him with broomsticks, tearing his clothes and pulling his
hair. The young man who succeeds in climbing to the top of the tree
can select any one of the surrounding girls as his wife and take her
away.
Marriage by purchase is prevalent all over tribal India. Among
the majority of tribes the bride price is symbolic of the utility of a
woman and by way of compensation to her parents.
Among tribes like the Gonds or Baigas where the bride price is
high, a solution has been found to the problem of young men who
are unable to pay the high bride price. The young man goes to serve
in his would-be father-in-law’s house. He works there till he has
earned money equivalent to the pre-arranged bride price. This is
marriage by service. Among the Birhors the father-in-law often
lends money to enable the son-in-law to. pay the bride price.
Marriage by exchange is found among the Uralis of Kerala. No
Urali can have a wife a unless he can give a female in exchange.
Marriage by intrusion is the opposite of marriage by capture. A
girl who wants to marry an unwilling man enters his house and
stubbornly refuses to leave it even when harassed or ill-treated.
The young man is finally forced to marry her. That this form of
marriage is looked down upon by the tribals is clear from the term
used by the Hos for it —
anader,
meaning that which involves being
humiliated or disrespected.
Divorce is common among the tribes of India. The Khasis
permit divorce on account of adultery, barreriness and incompatibil-
ity of temperament. But the separation can take place only, after
mutual consent. The mother gets the custody of the children.
Among the Lushei, the dissolution of marriage is a much simpler
affair. If a husband turns out his wife, he must pay the balance of
the bride price if any is due. However, if his wife deserts him or is
caught in adultery, the bride price paid by her husband for her must
be returned. Among the Gonds, the husband a wife chooses after
divorce may have to compensate the first husband if the divorce has
been obtained against his will or at his request on account of a fault
or punishable offence of the wife.
Widow marriage is permitted among the Indian tribes. The
most common practice is the marriage of a widow with the de-
ceased’s brother.
In the post-Independence period efforts have been made to
improve the condition of the tribal population. They have been given
special protection by being classified in the Constitution of India as
Scheduled Tribes. Adequate funds have been earmarked for tribal
areas in the Five-Year Plans. It has been recognised that while it
is desirable to have the long-term objective of assimilating the
tribes with the rest of the population, this can come about only
when the tribal population has attained a satisfactory degree of de-
velopment. This strategy was advocated by Jawaharlal Nehru who
said that the tribes must be allowed "to develop along lines of their
own genius".
While the Constitution had prescribed certain protective mas-
ures and safeguards for SCs and STs successive Five-Year Plans
have regarded their progress as a major objective of national policy.
The main Constitutional safeguards are
: (1) Abolition of
untouchability and forbidding of its practice in any form (Article 17);
(2) promotion of their education and their protection from social in-
justice and all forms of exploitation (Article 46); (3) throwing open
by law of Hindu religious institutions of public character to all
classes and section of Hindus (Article 25b); (4) removal of any
disability, restriction or condition with regard to access to public
places (Article 15 (2)); (5) curtailment by law in the interest of any
Scheduled tribes of general rights of all citizens to move freely,
settle in and acquire property (Article 19 (5)); (6) forbidding or any
denial of admission to educational institutions maintained by the
State. (Article 29 (2)); (7) permitting the state to make reserva-
tion for backward classes in public services in case of inadequate
representations and requiring the state to consider claims of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the making of appoint-
ments to public services (Articles 16 and 335); (8) special repre-
sentation in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies to
Scheduled Castes and Tribes till 25 January, 2000 (Article 330,332.
and 334); (9) setting-up of Tribal Advisory Councils and separate
departments in states. (Article 164 and 338 and fifth schedule);
(10)
special provision for administration and control of Scheduled
and Tribal Areas (Article 244 and fifth and sixth schedule) and;
(11)
prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour (Article
23).
(N.D.)